Who Will Be the Next Prosecutor General?… Speeding Up the Appointment of Yoon's Successor

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The selection process for the next Prosecutor General is set to begin in earnest. The public recommendation procedure, which took place over a week starting from the 15th, has concluded, and the first meeting of the Prosecutor General Candidate Recommendation Committee to narrow down the final candidates is expected to be held in early April. Considering the presidential candidate nomination and confirmation hearing schedules, the next Prosecutor General is likely to take office as early as the end of next month.

According to the legal community on the 28th, the Ministry of Justice is currently conducting a procedure to obtain consent from the recommended individuals before they undergo screening.

Previously, the Ministry of Justice received recommendations for candidates qualified to be Prosecutor General, including judges, prosecutors, and lawyers with over 15 years of experience, from individuals, corporations, and organizations. Minister of Justice Park Beom-gye stated, "Since there is so much interest, I think we need to be very cautious and thorough." Accordingly, Minister Park will select and present to the recommendation committee those deemed suitable candidates, including those who were recommended. Currently, the committee chair is former Minister of Justice Park Sang-ki, who served as the first Minister of Justice under the Moon Jae-in administration. The committee consists of nine members in total: four non-ex officio members and five ex officio members.

Since there were no conditions during the recommendation process, the list of nominees reportedly includes prominent candidates such as Cho Nam-gwan, Deputy Prosecutor General of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office; Lee Seong-yoon, Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office; Han Dong-soo, Director of the Inspection Department at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office; Han Dong-hoon, Research Fellow at the Legal Research and Training Institute, who is involved in the 'media collusion suspicion' case; and Lee Doo-bong, Chief Prosecutor of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, who led the investigation into the 'Wolseong Unit 1 economic feasibility evaluation manipulation case.' Notably, Bong Wook, former Deputy Prosecutor General and also a candidate for the new Supreme Court Justice, is said to have been included on the Prosecutor General recommendation list as well.

However, inside and outside the prosecution, another conflict between the Ministry of Justice and the prosecution, sparked by allegations of perjury obstruction involving former Prime Minister Han, is seen as a potential variable. While the Supreme Prosecutors' Office judged the case as no charges, Minister Park countered by announcing a joint inspection, citing "doubts about procedural justice." Consequently, Deputy Prosecutor General Cho, who led the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's department meetings, is considered to have somewhat distanced himself from the leading candidate group following this incident.

Moreover, Deputy Prosecutor General Cho publicly demanded the withdrawal of disciplinary action against former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl during the disciplinary phase initiated by former Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae. Despite his background as head of the Special Inspection Team at the Blue House during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, opposition voices against Deputy Prosecutor General Cho within the ruling party are expected to grow stronger.

That said, the Ministry of Justice is unlikely to fill the candidate pool solely with pro-government figures. Due to ongoing backlash within the prosecution following Minister Park's order for a joint inspection, a 'prosecution turmoil (檢亂)' similar to that during former Minister Chu's tenure could severely impact the government's ability to govern.

Furthermore, the joint inspection by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office is likely to become a new source of conflict between the two sides. The joint inspection will broadly cover the case assignment process of the former Prime Minister Han's perjury obstruction allegations from last year to the no-charge conclusion reached at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office research meeting earlier this month. To examine the assignment process, the axis of the conflict between former Prosecutor General Yoon and former Minister Chu must also be revisited.

A legal community official stated, "Considering the by-elections on the 7th of next month and political variables such as the joint inspection, discussions for selecting the next Prosecutor General are expected to proceed in a way that does not affect the election and inspection results," adding, "Taking this into account, the outline of the next Prosecutor General candidate pool will likely emerge only after mid-next month."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.